TURKEYS. 621 



is earliest among his chickens and young turkeys in the morning, is the one who usually 

 takes the lion s share at the fairs. 



If any symptoms of rheumatism appear, a frequent feed of red pepper sprinkled in the 

 hot dough, will, with warm quarters, generally cause a change for the better. The greatest 

 care must be taken in the selection of males, and, as with all other kinds of poultry, but 

 perhaps in a more marked degree, careless breeding and a failure to kill off the unworthy birds, 

 soon destroys the beauty and symmetry of a flock. Never mate brothers and sisters, but 

 a good sire may be employed with a good daughter safely. If the turkeys can have good 

 range in summer, and are hatched as early as July 1st, the business can be both pleasant and 

 profitable. The Bronze Turkeys are wonderful for their good behavior in the matter of 

 coming home nights. They are great wanderers, but never get lost, and do not, like the 

 common turkey, wear one s patience out with hunting for them when night comes.&quot; 



In southern New England where large numbers of turkeys are raised annually, it is the 

 custom among many breeders of this bird, when feeding uncooked meal to them, to mix a 

 small quantity of clean seaside sand with it, when mixing it with milk or water. This, it is 

 claimed by those practicing the method, acts like gravel in aiding digestion, but it is also 

 claimed that this mixture should not be fed later than three o clock in the afternoon, for if 

 fed towards night, it will lie heavy in their crops during the night, and prove injurious. A 

 breeder of turkeys from Rhode Island claims to have lost but two birds out of a flock of four 

 hundred and fifty -four raised during a single season, by this method of feeding. The 

 quantity of sand used in this case was about one-sixth that of meal. 



To Prevent Lice Oil Young Turkeys. Wash the old turkey when taken from 

 the hatching nest, with a decoction of tobacco, on the under side of the wings and on the 

 body, but do not permit any to get on the young chicks. Put also an ointment made of 

 yellow snuff and fresh lard under the wings, and on different parts of the body. If the 

 young turkeys get lousy, put the same ointment on the top of the head, under the wings, and 

 naked parts of the body. It is also a good plan to mix a little sulphur with the dough occa 

 sionally, which will be distasteful to the parasites. When young turkeys act sleepy and seem 

 drooping, it is a pretty sure indication that vermin are troubling them, and it will pay to 

 examine every bird, and take all the necessary precautions. 



Shelter for Young Turkeys. An extensive poultry raiser in southern Connecticut, 

 says: &quot;If you mean business in raising this crop, see that the hen and her brood are safely 

 housed every night for a month at least after hatching. A vacant stable, or shed, or barn 

 floor, or hovel, furnishes suitable shelter, and with little trouble after the habit is established. 

 The prime object of this shelter is to guard the young against water and other enemies. 

 Showers often come up in the night and drench the mother-bird, and if she attempts to move, 

 some of the young will be drowned. Then, in the open field, they are exposed to skunks, 

 foxes, and weasels, and sometimes to thieves in human shape, who can bag your birds at 

 midnight, and remove them to unknown parts. Then the young chicks that roost on the 

 ground for the first month, are more likely to have straight breast bones than those that take 

 to the roost and balance their bodies on a fence rail, or the small limb of a tree. The birds 

 get accustomed to go into the barn and other buildings, and it is much less trouble to yard 

 them in the fall or winter, when you want to sell them for stock or for slaughter.&quot; 



Another writer follows a different method, and confines the young poults in a pen for 

 about two months, after which they are set at liberty, and with the mother bird are permitted 

 to range at will. He says: &quot;The turkey poult pen is a necessity while the young ones are 

 coming up from the shell to six weeks old. This is a veiy simple contrivance, such as has 

 long been in use among our best turkey breeders in late years, and which has been found 

 both practical and highly useful. This pen is constructed by placing a board on edge, say 



